Travis Kelce’s sarcastic message about contract disparity between TEs, WRs

Travis Kelce remains the cream of the crop among tight ends. The Kansas City Chiefs superstar isn’t getting paid like other players at the top of their positions, though, which has ramifications for the rest of TEs in the NFL. It’s something he hopes will change eventually.

Contracts for tight ends don’t stack up with those of wide receivers, who share similar roles on offense but are paid much more handsomely. Many of them consistently rank high in receiving stats on top of doubling as key blockers on the outside of the trenches. Still, they lag far behind wide receivers in terms of the contracts they get. Like running backs, they’re watching fellow skill position players nearly lap them.

Kelce joked that tight ends should start telling teams they aren’t actually tight ends, according to Stephen Holder of ESPN.

“I tell guys, ‘Just say you’re a wide receiver who blocks.’ You’ll do everything the tight end does and hopefully they won’t know the difference,” Kelce said, via ESPN.

Travis Kelce jokes that TEs should classify as WRs to get paid more

Holder noted that former superstar tight end Jimmy Graham tried to argue that he was a receiver when he was up for a franchise tag with the New Orleans Saints. He lost the argument in arbitration, which meant he didn’t get paid as much. Even with tight ends getting lined up in other spots around the field, it will indeed be tough to make the case successfully.

The fact that a game-breaking tight end like Kelce can’t sniff the money that top (or even just decent) wide receivers get is shocking. He has been one of the absolute best receiving threats in the game for years now. While age certainly plays a part in it, Kelce would be the 28th highest-paid wideout in the NFL if that was his designation. This market inefficiency certainly has its benefits, though, as Kansas City gets WR1-type production for much cheaper and can spend more at other spots.